8:26am Wednesday 25th November 2009
By Pat Calnan
Mike Skinner celebrated his 30th birthday last weekend and will be looking to put the icing on the cake when he runs in the Trials for the Great Britain team for the European Cross Country Championships this Saturday in Liverpool. Should the Blackheath & Bromley athlete make the team, it will be the 5th year in a row he has competed for Britain in the Europeans. The Championships take place in Dublin two weeks after the Trials.
Scott Overall will also be challenging for a place in the team after running in the Europeans with Mike in Brussels last year. After a string of fine recent performances he also has a good chance of gaining a place on the team.
The Club were beaten in the first mob mach of the Winter against Orion at Chingford despite providing the winner in Alex Gibbins who finished over two minutes clear of the runner up. He timed 47.06 for the 7.5 mile course. Roy Smith was the only other B&B athlete to finish in the top 10 in 6th place and he is 47 and has an artificial hip. Third home was Paul Ross Davies in 11th.
First woman to finish for the Club was Sarah Dowling in 42nd with Carolyna Jones Baldock 60th and Annie McDonough 81st.
The race incorporated the third of the nine race Bennett Cup handicap series which takes place over the Winter months. First on this occasion was Andy Riches with Mike Wade second and Roy Smith third.
Handicapper Professor Chris Haines will no doubt have noticed that after three races Jon Leeson has a clear lead with 151 points. Second is Adrian Stocks on 125 and Anne Cilia on 120 and a further nine athletes have over 110 or points.
Will Mercer and Sam Jackson represented Surrey Schools at the Inter Counties Meeting in Stoke on Trent on Saturday. In the Intermediate Boys race Sam was 10th finisher and Will was 16th helping Surrey to victory in the team race.
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